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Capped Bust Gold $2.5 Quarter Eagles

Published April 21, 2026

U.S. Gold Coins

Coin Design History

Capped Bust Quarter Eagles (1808–1834)

Collectors Key Editorial  •  Gold Series
Author NameChris D.Date PublishedApril 19, 2026 DenominationQuarter Eagle ($2.50 Gold) Years Issued1808, 1821–1827, 1829–1834 DesignersJohn Reich (1808); Robert Scot (1821–1827); William Kneass (1829–1834) Composition91.67% gold, 8.33% silver and copper Weight4.37 grams Diameter20 mm (1808); 18.5 mm approx. (1821–1827); 18.2 mm (1829–1834) EdgeReeded Combined MintageApproximately 44,775 coins (all dates) MintPhiladelphia only

A Fixed Gold-to-Silver Ratio Made These Coins Worth More Melted Than Spent

Every quarter eagle minted between 1808 and 1834 was produced under the same monetary constraint: the statutory 15-to-1 silver-to-gold ratio set by Congress in 1792 undervalued gold relative to European market prices, which by the early 1820s ran closer to 15.5 or 16 to 1. Bullion dealers could buy quarter eagles at face value of $2.50, ship them to London or Paris, and sell the gold content at a profit. U.S. gold coins went abroad for melting almost as fast as the Mint could strike them. A single Paris melt in 1831 destroyed 40,000 half eagles. Quarter eagles minted 1821 through 1834 followed the same path: most were coined on depositors' orders, held briefly, and eventually sold to bullion dealers rather than spent. The Act of June 28, 1834 finally broke the cycle by reducing the gold content of all U.S. gold coins by approximately 6 percent, making them worth less in bullion than at face value. After August 1, 1834, an old-tenor quarter eagle held about $2.66 worth of gold at the new standard, and many were turned in for melting and recoining. The combination of original small mintages and post-1834 mass recoinage made the entire 1808-to-1834 quarter eagle series rarer in survivors than the mintage figures alone suggest.1

John Reich's 1808 Design Was Struck in a Single Delivery and Never Repeated

John Reich, a Bavarian-born engraver who had come to Philadelphia around 1800, was appointed Assistant Engraver in 1807 after Mint Director Robert Patterson wrote President Jefferson that the beauty of the nation's coins would be greatly improved by Reich's work. His first redesign assignments were the 1807 half dollar and half eagle; the quarter eagle followed in 1808. Reich's obverse placed Liberty facing left, wearing a cloth cap with LIBERTY inscribed on the band, her hair curling down over her shoulder; thirteen stars surround the bust and the date appears below. The reverse replaced Robert Scot's stiff Heraldic Eagle with a more naturalistic eagle bearing a shield on its breast and holding an olive branch and three arrows in its talons, with E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon above. The denomination 2 1/2 D. appeared on a quarter eagle for the first time. A single die marriage was prepared, and the entire mintage of 2,710 coins was delivered in one batch on February 26, 1808. A die crack running from the top of Liberty's cap toward the stars on the right appears on every known example, and it may explain why no further 1808 quarter eagles were struck. Approximately 125 to 150 survivors are estimated from the 2,710 struck. A PCGS Mint State 62 example sold for $372,000 at Heritage Auctions on January 5, 2023 (lot 9006, Harry W. Bass, Jr. Core Collection, Part II). The design was never used again on this denomination.2

Robert Scot's 1821 Adaptation Began a Five-Date Run Punctuated by the Low-Mintage 1826

After 1808 no quarter eagles were struck for thirteen years. The denomination reappeared in 1821 with a design that Scot based on his 1818 half eagle, itself derived from Reich's work. Reich had left the Mint in 1817, so Scot, still Chief Engraver, did the work himself; his quarter eagle design retained the left-facing Liberty and naturalistic eagle but reworked the proportions, producing what later writers have described as a less graceful execution. The design ran through five dates: 1821, 1824 (all examples are overdates of 1824 over 1), 1825, 1826, and 1827. No year reached a mintage of 10,000 pieces; the 1826 recorded only 760 coins, the lowest of any date in the entire 1808-to-1834 series; the 1827 reached 2,800. Most dates in this group are known by a few dozen examples; none can reasonably be called available in any grade. The 1825 is the most frequently encountered date in Mint State. The 1821 had the series' largest output at 6,448 coins, yet PCGS estimates only about 50 survive against about 125 for the 1825, which is the more available date in circulated grades too.3

The quarter eagle under these three engravers never achieved commercial relevance. In 1808 the denomination was an afterthought, struck once and forgotten for thirteen years. In the 1820s it existed at the margins of a monetary system that made gold worth melting rather than spending. In the early 1830s it continued to be struck in small batches while being exported and smelted as fast as it could be coined. Most of each mintage was melted abroad or recoined after 1834; the survivors are the small remainder.

Kneass's 1829 Modification Introduced Close-Collar Coinage; the 1834 Old-Tenor Is a Great Rarity

Scot died in November 1823 and was succeeded by William Kneass, who was appointed Chief Engraver on January 29, 1824, and who in 1829 modified the quarter eagle dies to take advantage of close-collar coining technology, a steel collar ring that standardized the coin's diameter and imparted the reeded edge in a single pressing. The diameter was reduced to approximately 18.2 millimeters, the stars were made smaller, and the border was refined. Coins struck in the collar came out more uniform in size and edge than the 1821-to-1827 issues. The most available dates in this phase are 1830, 1831, and 1832, each struck in approximately 4,400 to 4,540 pieces; type collectors are most often steered to them because more survive and they tend to be better struck. The series ended abruptly in 1834. When Congress passed the Coinage Act of June 28, 1834 reducing gold coin weights, the Mint struck 4,000 quarter eagles on the old standard before August 1, the cutoff date; most were withheld and melted as the new lighter coins replaced them. PCGS estimates that only about 18 old-tenor 1834 quarter eagles survive, making the 1834 by far the rarest date of the 1829-to-1834 type although its stated mintage of 4,000 is close to those of the other dates.4

Building the Set

A standard type set of quarter eagles requires three coins from the 1808-to-1834 period: the 1808 one-year type, one coin from the 1821-to-1827 large-diameter type, and one coin from the 1829-to-1834 small-diameter type. The 1808 is the most expensive of the three by a substantial margin, and along with the 1796 No Stars Draped Bust is among the most expensive coins in a complete United States type set. For the 1821-to-1827 type, the 1825 is the most frequently recommended choice because it offers the best prospect of finding a problem-free Mint State example, and it is also the most available date in circulated grades. For the 1829-to-1834 type, the 1830 and 1831 are consistently well struck and most available. The 1826 and the 1834 are for specialists only: the 1826 at 760 pieces is the low-mintage rarity of the entire series, and the 1834 old-tenor, the rarest date of its type, seldom appears at auction. Gem (Mint State 65 or finer) examples are known for only some dates, and each is individually notable; the realistic acquisition target across all three type coins is Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated for the 1808 and the 1821-to-1827 dates, and About Uncirculated to lower Mint State for the more available 1829-to-1834 dates. The primary specialist reference is Bowers, Q. David, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins (Whitman Publishing, 2022).5

Notes

  1. The statutory 15-to-1 ratio set in 1792; the European market ratio of roughly 15.5 to 16 to 1 in the early 1820s; bullion brokers buying U.S. gold coins at face value and exporting them for melting; the 1831 Paris melt of some 40,000 half eagles; the Act of June 28, 1834 reducing the gold content by about 6 percent; old-tenor quarter eagles worth about $2.66 at the new standard and turned in for recoining; and small mintages and post-1834 melting as causes of the series' rarity are from Bowers, Q. David, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins (Whitman Publishing, 2022), and Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins (New York: Doubleday, 1988).
  2. Reich's background and appointment (Patterson to Jefferson, March 25, 1807, and Jefferson's approval of March 29, 1807, Founders Online); the 1807 half dollar and half eagle redesigns; the 1808 obverse and reverse descriptions; the single die marriage; the 2,710 coins delivered on February 26, 1808; the die crack on all known examples; and John Dannreuther's estimate of 125 to 150 survivors are from Bowers, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins, and CoinWeek, '1808 Capped Bust Quarter Eagle'. Auction: Heritage Auctions, January 5, 2023, lot 9006, 1808 Quarter Eagle, PCGS Mint State 62, $372,000 (Harry W. Bass, Jr. Core Collection, Part II).
  3. The thirteen-year gap after 1808; the 1821 reintroduction with Scot's design based on his 1818 half eagle, itself after Reich's 1813 Capped Head; the five dates (1821, 1824/1 overdate, 1825, 1826, 1827); no year reaching 10,000 pieces; the 1826 at 760 coins as the lowest mintage of the 1808-to-1834 series; the 1827 at 2,800; the 1821 at 6,448; most dates known by a few dozen examples; and the 1825 as the most frequently encountered date in Mint State are from Bowers, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins. Reich's departure from the Mint in 1817 is from CoinWeek, 'John Reich', and the judgement of Scot's version as less impressive than Reich's is from CoinWeek's guide to the 1821-1827 quarter eagle. Survival estimates (1821 about 50, 1825 about 125) are from PCGS CoinFacts.
  4. Scot's death in 1823 and Kneass's succession; the 1829 collar modification, smaller stars and 18.2-millimeter diameter; the mintages of 1830 (4,540), 1831 (4,520) and 1832 (4,400) and their recommendation for type collectors; and the 4,000 coins struck on the old standard in 1834, most melted at the Mint after the new law took effect, are from Bowers, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins. The estimate of about 18 surviving 1834 old-tenor quarter eagles is from PCGS CoinFacts.
  5. The three-type set requirement (1808, 1821-to-1827 large diameter, 1829-to-1834 small diameter); the 1808 as the most expensive of the three; the 1825 for the 1821-to-1827 type (best Mint State prospect); the 1830 and 1831 for the 1829-to-1834 type (most available, best struck); the 1826 as the low-mintage rarity and the 1834 old-tenor for specialists; Gem examples as known for only some dates and individually notable; realistic target grades for each type; and the primary reference are from Bowers, Q. David, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins (Whitman Publishing, 2022). The 1825 as the most available date of its type in circulated grades rests on PCGS CoinFacts survival estimates (1825 about 125, 1821 about 50).

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